Automobile fuel line filter



Aug. 28, 1956 c. J. FRANcH 2,760,637

AUTOMOBILE FUEL LINE FILTER Filed Feb. 5, 1954 j?? vena? United States Patent AUTOMOBILE FUEL LINE FILTER Charles .1. Franch, Chicago, lll.

Application February 5, 1954, Serial No. 408,341

4 Claims. (Cl. ZID-1.5)

My invention relates to improvements in lters for use with automotive fuel supply carburetors and the like and has for one object to provide a simple, light, inexpensive filter which can be associated with an automobile carburetor between the fuel pump and the carburetor for the purpose of removing solid material from the fuel screen which might otherwise deleteriously affect engine, and especially carburetor operation.

lt is a well known fact that such filter material as chamois skin and the like, through which the gasoline is filtered on its way from the gasoline tank to the carburetor will filter out water and much of the solid material in very finely divided condition which is always very likely to be found in a gasoline stream.

it is not so weli known that the chamois skin filter will not adequately protect the carburetor and the engine from iron, steel and rust particles. They will penetrate and pass through a chamois filter which stops the other foreign material in the gasoline stream.

It is of the utmost importance to arrest these ferrous particles because they, being harder than the valves or valve seats in the carburetor tend to interfere with the accurate control of the iioat valve and to interfere Wtih the accuracy of the gasoline jets or nozzles which discharge the gasoline into and mix it with the air stream.

It has heretofore been proposed to separate out ferrous and therefore magnetically susceptible fine particles from a liquid stream in many different fields including the automobile industry. Heretofore such arrangements have been so cumbersome, bulky and expensive that they have not met with success.

it must be remembered that the space under the hood and around the engine of a modern automotive vehicle is limited. lt must be remembered that a few cents in cost often makes the dierence between success and failure. Automobiles have fuel pumps and carburetors and I propose a filter so compact and so light that it may be supported by the fuel line of the carburetor or by the fuel pump as desired without the necessity of separate brackets, platforms or supports.

Another problem which is solved by the use of my filtering arrangement is the testing of the output of the fuel pump.

it is important to automotive operation that throughout the power and speed range, the output of the pump both from the point of View of pressure and volume remain Within predetermined limits and heretofore it has been the practice when an automobile engine is tuned up to disconnect the discharge pipe from the fuel pump from the carburetor, apply a pressure gauge to the discharge end of the pipe and rotate the engine by the use of the starter. Under these circumstances the output of the fuel pump may be checked but only within the range of revolutions per minute imparted to the engine by the motor. This check is only an approximation because it does not usually reect actual conditions of engine operation. I propose therefore to associate with my filter ice means whereby during engine operation the pump output may be checked.

Other objects will appear from time to time throughout the specification and claims.

My invention is illustrated more or less diagrammatically in the accompanying drawing, whereinl. illustrates diagrammatically the fuel pump. 2 illustrates diagrammatically the internal combustion engine carburetor. 3 is a duct leading fro-m the pump 1 to the filter housing 4. S is a duct leading from the filter housing 4 to the carburetor 2.

The ducts 3 and S are connected to the filter housing d by any suitable fitting 6 as indicated.

'7 is the bottom intake cup of the filter housing. It is closed at the bottom and open at the top and internally threaded at St about its upper inner periphery. 9 is a cover for the cup 7. it has a downwardly extending boss if? threaded to engage the threads S. 11 isan alternative passage in the cover 9, communicating at one end with the filter chamber 12 in the cup '7. At the other end, passage 11 communicates with an opening through the outer wall of the cover *i which is threaded at 13 and closed by a removable plug 1d threaded thereinto. 150 is a packing Washer compressed between the elements 7 and Si to make a gasoline tight fit between them.

The cap 9 includes also a discharge chamber 15 having c. side outlet 1o which may be closed by a threaded plug l. This arrangement makes it possible to bring the gasoline line into communication with the filter chamber from the bottom open side of the housing and makes it possible to discharge filtered fuel from the chamber 1S from the top or the side of the housing because the fittings 6 are interchangeable with the plugs 13 and 17.

interposed between the filter chamber 12 and discharge chamber 1S is a filter plate 13 which includes a chamois skin filter disc 19 held between perforate or foraminous discs 2h, 2l. The gasoline forces into the filter chamber 12, passes through the filter to and may be discharged from the discharge chamber 15. The filter disc is seated on a shoulder 22, being held thereagainst by a spring 23 which seats on the bottom of the cup 7. The spring 23, the fixed magnet 24, the spacer 25 are held together in a unit assembly by a pin 26 so that when the cap 9 is screwed into the cup 7', the spring 23 is compressed and holds the filter in fixed position making a gasoline tight joint between the chambers 12 and 15 so that all the gasoline is constrained to pass through the filter plate.

The spring 23 is magnetized as is the fixed magnet 24. The fixed magnet 24 is spaced from the filter disc by the spacer 25 and extends outwardly toward the outer periphery of the filter disc so that when gasoline is introduced under pressure into the chamber 12 and the chamber is entirely filled, the gasoline is exposed to the magnetic effect of the spring 23 to the underside, the upper side and the periphery of the fixed magnet 24 and the spacing of the fixed magnet 2d from the filter disc is such that the gasoline in its travel from chamber 12 to chamber 15 through the filter disc is constrained to a line of travel closely following the contour of the fixed magnet.

Since the cross sectional area of the filter disc is very much greater than the cross sectional area of the stream of gasoline entering the filter, the rate of fiow in feet per second is substantially reduced so that there is abundant opportunity for magnetically susceptible particles in suspension in the gasoline stream to be trapped by and held against the magnetized spring and the fixed magnet. The velocities of ow in the chamber 12 are so small that particles that are trapped by the magnet will not be washed off from it. Thus the magnet accomplishes its magnetic separation and recovery of magneti- 3 cally susceptible particles and does not in any way affect the filtering function of the filter disc.

27 is an elbow fitting threaded into the wall of the cup 7 adjacent the bottom thereof. It is open and closed by a nozzle fitting 23 which includes a nut 29 threaded on the outboard end of the elbow fitting. As is well known in the art, a rubber or similar disc will be compressed between the elbow fittings and the nozzle fittings thus closing the filter chamber 12 against escape of gasoline.

When it is desired to test pump operation, the fitting 28 with nut 29 will be unscrewed from the elbow fitting. The valve disc will be removed. The parts will be screwed together again and the hose of any suitable standard type of test instrument will be forced into the nozzle fitting when the engine can operate, receiving gasoline in the usual Way and making possible pump output inspection throughout the entire range of engine operation. When the inspection or test is completed, the valve disc will be replaced to prevent escape of gasoline from the chamber i2.

I claim:

l. In combination, a housing, a foraminous filter disc dividing said housing into a filter chamber on one side of the disc and a discharge chamber on the other, a permanent disc magnet connected to, parallel with, spaced from and generally cci-extensive with the effective area of the filter disc, the distance between the magnet and the disc being such that fiuid filling the filter chamber is forced to travel inwardly along one side of the fixed magnet on its way to discharge through the filter, a seat for the filter disc and a magnetized spring within the filter chamber biasing the disc to its seat.

2. A filter unit for internal combustion engine fuel lines comprising a housing containing a filter chamber and a discharge chamber, a removable filter disc interposed between them and limiting flow of fuel from one to the other through the filter disc, a fixed disc-like permanent magnet Within the filter chamber and underlying and spaced below the filter disc to define radial passages inwardly from the periphery of the fixed magnet toward the underside of the filter, the space between the magnet and filter being such in relation to the rate of fiow through said filter as to cause at least a major portion of the fuel to flow along said passages, and a magnetized coiled spring within the filter chamber holding the filter disc and the magnet in place, substantially the entire surfaces of said magnet and spring being exposed to contact by the fuel in said lter chamber.

3. A direct fiow filter for internal combustion engine fuel lines comprising a housing, said housing having a pair of spaced end walls joined by a circumferential side wall, being adapted for connection to said fuel line intermediate its ends, a filter chamber in said housing connected to an upstream end of said fuel line through an end wall of said housing, a discharge chamber connected to a downstream end of said fuel line through an end wall of said housing, a filter disc interposed between said filter and discharge chambers, said filter disc being seated along its edge upon the wall of said discharge chamber, a magnetized coiled spring in said filter chamber biasing the disc toward said discharge chamber, a permanent disclike magnet adjacent and spaced from said filter within said filter chamber, spacing means between said magnet and said filter, said magnet being interposed between said spring and said spacing means whereby said yielding means is effective to bias said magnet and said spacing means toward said filter, and substantially the entire surface of said magnet is exposed to contact of the fuel in said filter chamber.

4. A filter for internal combustion engine fuel lines comprising a housing, said housing including an upper cup-like portion and a lower cup-like portion, the open ends of said portions being threadedly secured together, said housing being adapted for connection to said fuel line intermediate the ends of said fuel line, a fuel inlet connected to the lower of said portions, a fuel outlet connected to the upper of said portions, said lower portion constituting a filter chamber, said upper portion constituting a discharge chamber, said chambers each having a diameter substantially greater than that of said fuel line, a filter disc interposed between said chambers adjacent the point of said threaded connection and having a diameter less than that of said filter chamber, a seat formed in said discharge chamber for said filter disc, a permanent disc-like magnet spaced from and parallel with said filter disc and positioned within said filter chamber, a coiled spring in said filter chamber biasing said filter disc against its seat, said spring being magnetized and being positioned in axial alignment with said fuel inlet, said filter disc and said magnet being substantially greater in diameter than said fuel inlet, said spring being tapered toward said magnet and having its coils spaced apart when at its normal filter-disc-seated position whereby substantially the entire surface of said magnet and spring is exposed to contact by the fuel in said filter chamber.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,102,685 Proper July 7, 1914 1,582,859 Shepherd Apr. 27, 1926 2,174,769 White Oct. 3, 1939 2,382,278 Widman Aug. 14, 1945 2,459,534 Kennedy Jan. 1S, 1949 2,648,438 Cox Aug. 11, 1953 2,721,659 Turcotte Oct. 25, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 642,748 Great Britain Sept. 13, 1950 

